By DAVE SCHULTZ
The payment of attorney’s fees and the cleanup of the property has ended the city’s efforts regarding 427 W. Lancaster St.
The city first cited the property in August of 2021 for excessive junk. The resident at the time, Kurt Schorey, began work on the cleanup but the progress was slow.
The entire back yard had been filled with junk and at one point the Wells County Health Department had declared the interior of the house unfit for residence.
In a meeting of the Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety in May of 2022, Mayor John Whicker — who had made citywide cleanup a goal of his administration — said he had “not seen such a quantity of junk in any other location in the city.”
A court case was filed by Adrian Halverstadt of Huntington, the city’s special attorney in the case, and in a negotiated settlement, the owner’s daughters — Cheryl Harris and Crystal Lutz — agreed to pay the city’s attorney’s fees if the city would ease the fines. Also, the family of owner Jayne Schoeff would be responsible for the cleanup.
Halverstadt advised the city this week that the attorney’s fees of $3,894 have been paid. Whicker said Friday that the property has been cleaned up, except for a section of fence that was damaged in a fire. He said the Health Department’s concerns have been alleviated as well.
Halverstadt represented the city in the lawsuit because City Attorney Tony Crowell had previously represented Schoeff in an unrelated court case.
daves@news-banner.com
